Assessment

A Teacher's Perspective...

Assessment

A Teacher's Perspective...

No Excuses University-Assessment

"Assessment is not about you as a teacher; it is about your students" (Lopez, 2013 p.97).

Then and Now...

This will be my second year teaching elementary school. My first year was very challenging and it was the first time I was under a lot of pressure to produce. The school is very data driven and so when the students didn't do well on tests I believed there was something that I wasn't doing right as a teacher. As you can guess by the end of the year I was reevaluating my life as an educator. This year I've learned to use the results of the assessments to target areas students need help in. I've learned that is the real purpose of the assessment. It is about the student, areas they need clarity or just help in getting the concept. The assessment helps me to be a better teacher, better lesson planner and this in turn helps the students to be successful.

Why are you participating in the assessments that you use with students?

The assessments we give are given weekly and are made up of the information they learned throughout the week. The exit tickets and assessments are the data we use to see what areas the students need more time to go over. They also help us to plan the lesson and get an idea what students may need to be in a small group.

Can you share in explicit detail the value that you find in each assessment?

We recently did a unit on maps, cardinal directions and intermediate directions. During the lessons the children were engaged and on the exit tickets when it came to labeling the directions on a compass rose they did well. When they had to apply it to a map and find locations using the cardinal directions and intermediate directions a few of them got things backwards or they weren't sure about the direction to use. This week we did more work with maps and finding locations instead of focusing on the compass rose and directions. This week's exit tickets are better! They are understanding how to apply the directions to a map.

Do you participate in assessments you find no value in for students? Are you using an assessment you have no idea how to deliver, but are afraid to ask for help?

Actually, no. The assessments that we give to the students are very helpful. Friday we spend the whole day testing the students. I do think there needs to be another way of assessing the students other than having them take several test in a day. Its what the school does but I would like to see that change because the kids get tired of taking one test after the other.

Thankfully, before we give the assessment the grade level chair walks us through how it is to be given. Most of the assessments also come with a teacher guide letting us know what to say and what to look for in the students' answers.

Why are you participating in the assessments that you use with students?

The assessments we give are given weekly and are made up of the information they learned throughout the week. The exit tickets and assessments are the data we use to see what areas the students need more time to go over. They also help us to plan the lesson and get an idea what students may need to be in a small group.

Can you share in explicit detail the value that you find in each assessment?

We recently did a unit on maps, cardinal directions and intermediate directions. During the lessons the children were engaged and on the exit tickets when it came to labeling the directions on a compass rose they did well. When they had to apply it to a map and find locations using the cardinal directions and intermediate directions a few of them got things backwards or they weren't sure about the direction to use. This week we did more work with maps and finding locations instead of focusing on the compass rose and directions. This week's exit tickets are better! They are understanding how to apply the directions to a map.

Do you participate in assessments you find no value in for students? Are you using an assessment you have no idea how to deliver, but are afraid to ask for help?

Actually, no. The assessments that we give to the students are very helpful. Friday we spend the whole day testing the students. I do think there needs to be another way of assessing the students other than having them take several test in a day. Its what the school does but I would like to see that change because the kids get tired of taking one test after the other.

Thankfully, before we give the assessment the grade level chair walks us through how it is to be given. Most of the assessments also come with a teacher guide letting us know what to say and what to look for in the students' answers.

In what ways have you succeeded/failed to make students your partner in assessment?

When I taught drama, the students participated in creating the performance piece for the assessment. They liked being a part of the process and when it came time to test they were excited. Each class created the assessment (there were four classes) and I shuffled them between the four classes so no one would have the test they created.

The assessments we give in the second grade are created mostly by the teachers or grade level chairs so they are not a part of the process. At this point, I'm not sure how we (the teachers ) could make them a partner outside of just telling what they are doing and why they are taking the assessment like Lopez did with his class in this week's reading.